Early spring leaves of motherwort’s basal rosette.
Leonurus cardiaca
EDIBLE leaves, flowers
Motherwort grows abundantly in garden beds, along trails, and in open fields. It can lend its bitter flavor to cocktails, and it mixes well with aromatic plants like lavender, chamomile, and lemon balm for herbal cocktails and relaxing teas.
Motherwort is a biennial plant. The first-year leaves grow in a basal rosette. The leaves are deep green and mostly palmate and deeply lobed, with some variations. It is a mint family plant, and the stem is square. Its leaves grow in a whorled, opposite pattern up the stem. The blossoms, which appear in July and are favorites of honeybees, are showy pink clusters along the stem.
Early spring leaves of motherwort’s basal rosette.
Motherwort tolerates many soil conditions and can be easily found in open fields, along trails, in disturbed areas, and in garden beds (where it is usually identified as a weed). Gather the new leaves of motherwort in early spring; they will be strongly bitter, with little aromatics. The flowers can be gathered as well during their bloom time in July.
Gather motherwort leaves on a dry day, selecting plant material free of dust and debris. The leaves can be dried on screens for later use or prepared as a plant extract.
The flavor of motherwort is markedly bitter—it is not aromatic—so it can be extracted into vodka or Bénédictine liqueur to make a nice bitters blend. A motherwort-infused B&B (Bénédictine and brandy) can be sweetened with honey to make a nice elixir that can be added to tea or blended into herbal cocktails—think lavender martini with a dash of motherwort B&B bitters. Motherwort can also be used as a relaxant tea mixed with other herbs, especially aromatics like chamomile, lavender, and lemon balm to round out the flavor.
Motherwort is a hardy biennial plant that grows nearly everywhere. It propagates prolifically from seed and can be transplanted easily. Gathering basal leaves and flower spikes won’t significantly impact future harvests.
